LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




DDDmbSflt.fl3 



r^: 



^ 
♦y 



■rp r. 









yj 



„.o 



0' 



.-.' y 



o V 

.0 --- 




4. 






.^*' 


:^: ^ 


'i; 







■ ■■. Y^ 














^ 






w 



if 



0' ■';, '^iTT^o^ .0 



,0 



!» ' • 



..^ 



k> 



') o 

7, « 



j^ i:-^ 






^V6 



4 o, 



xr'^ 



b ' « 









'^ 









^.,. ■i'i' 



< 



„.o-^ ,0- 



<^, 



V^ 



^v 















V <f^.x\\\r 



% : 









.0* •"• 



HO ^0 



Ho^ 









Y • O. 






r »^^%#A•■ 



> 



'1 o 



U. 0^ 






o 




■ri' 



'o , » * 



O 



^ 



'/^ 



^^^"^ ,<■ '-^ " ' 



^ 



o ^ :^ 



'^ 



-O^ 



■s 
* 



o 



.^^ 



o 









;r^ 






o -V 

', * 






^ 



yo-^-. 



.■■:;il|ii 



u^nL 



Sm 




■*r»w£ p-i i. i jt^ 



FRIENDLY COUNSELS 



FOE FEEEDMEJN. 



BY EEV. J. B. WATEEBUKY, D. D. 



ii 




PUBLISHED BY THE 

AMEEICAN TKACT SOCIETY, 

150 NASSAU-STREET, NEW YORK. 



.V\'-5-s. 



'or 



jd 



f 



'4 



FRIENDLY COUNSELS 



FOR 



FREEDMEN. 



We welcome all who liave come out 
of bondage to the privileges of freemen. 
Providence has unloosed your fetters. 
The war has been made use of by the 
Almighty to bring about this great 
change in your condition. We hope you 
will remember this ; and when you pray, 
you must not forget to give him thanks 
for your freedom. 

Your condition is in some respects 
much better, and in others somewhat 



4 FBIENDLY COUNSELS. 

worse, than wlien you were slaves. Your 
master, if lie was kind, took good care 
of you. Now that you are free, you 
have got to take care of yourselves. At 
first this may be a hardship; but by and 
by you will see that it is a good thing. 
In slavery you had little or no care, 
except to see that your task was done. 
Now that you are your own men, you 
have got to tJiinh and work both. 

Thus freedom acts on the mind. It 
obliges you to seek a livelihood — to look 
up work such as you can do, that you 
may support yourselves and your fami- 
lies. It sets you to thinking how you 
can earn wages, and how you can best 
spend them. Freedom, remember, has 
its cares and anxieties as well as its ben- 
efits. 



FEIENDLY COUNSEI^S. 



LABOR. 

Don't fall into tlie mistake of some, 
that freedom means idleness. No such 
thing. Free people have to work, and 
some of them have to work vg.y hard 
even to get their bread. Some of the 
free colored people have by their own 
labor gained the means of a comfortable 
livelihood, and made themselves respect- 
able. You can do the same, if you will 
use the same diligence. By industry 
you will soon be able to support your- 
selves and families, and lay up some- 
thing perhaps for a rainy day. Thus 
you may secure something to depend on 
wlien you are sick or old and can't work. 
There will no doubt be penny savings- 
banks, where you can put some of your 
money, and where it will not only bo 



6 FHIENDLY COUNSELS. 

safe, but will increase. We hope, if 
there are such banks, that you will take 
advantage of them. 

At first, and before you get well a 
going, the government, aided by good 
people, is ready to lend you a helping 
hand. This is done to give you a chance 
to get used to your new situation. But 
the sooner you stop leaning on the gov- 
ernment and on the help of the whites, 
the better for yourselves and for all con- 
cerned. 

Do n't refuse to work then, even at low 
wages. Work at low wages is better 
than idleness. The Bible says, he that 
will not work, neither shall he eat. It 
says also, "Be diligent in business." 

Besides, if you are idle, and look for 
support to the whites, the slaveholders 
will throw it in our teeth, and say, 
"There, you see negroes wont work, 
unless there is a master over them.'^ 



FEIENDLY COUNSELS. 7 

And so we shall be asliamed, not know- 
ing what to say in reply. But if you 
are industrious and willing to work even 
at low wages, they can't say this. 

If the government wants able-bodied 
men among you for the army, to dig 
trenches, to build forts, or to enlist as 
soldiers, let it not be said that you re- 
fused. If you are invited to go in as 
field laborers, go in and work. You 
work now as freemen, not as slaves ; and 
the money which is paid you, you can lay 
out for food and clothing, and for any 
thing else that is proper. In this coun- 
try nobody expects to live without work. 



CLEANLINESS. 

Industry is one good thing. But there 
are other habits also we would recom- 
mend. Cleanliness is very important. 



8 FEIENDLY COUNSELS. 

Black or white, a dirty person is a dis- 
gusting object. Even a poor person can 
possess the virtue of cleanliness. Soap 
and water are not very dear things ; but 
if one do n't use them, they might as well 
cost guineas instead of coppers. What 
do you think of a mother who keeps nei- 
ther herself nor her children clean? Who 
likes to enter a cabin or cottage where 
the dirt has to be wiped off a seat before 
a decent man or woman can sit down 
upon it? A clean person will see that 
even the patched garments he is obliged 
to wear are at least free from dirt. No 
matter how poor the house is you live 
in, it should be kept clean. The Bible 
says, ''Wash you, make you clean. '^ 
Though this means soul washing, yet it 
shows God loves cleanliness. 



/ ^f 



/i 

FRIENDLY COUNSELS. 



ECONOMY. 

Economy is another thing we recom- 
mend. This means saving all you can 
above and beyond what is needful for 
you to live upon. Don't spend your 
money foolishly. Do n't spend it on rum 
or tobacco. Do n't gamble it away. 
Don't buy expensive clothes or rich 
food. Some poor people, when they get 
a little money, think they may spend it 
in a frolic. All this is bad, and brings 
a man or a family very soon to want. 

We do n't wish you to be stingy, nor 
like one who hates to spend a penny even 
for what is necessary. This is not what 
we mean. But take care of your wages. 
Make them go as far as you can in sup- 
porting yourself and family ; and if there 
is any over, lay it up against a time of 



10 FRIENDLY COUNSELS. 

need. Only do n't waste it ; for the Bible 
makes the waster and the slothful man 
brothers. "He also that is slothful in his 
work, is brother to him that is a great 
waster.'' 



SOBRIETY. 



Sobriety is another habit or virtue we 
hope you will observe. Kum is the ruin 
of thousands. Keep clear of it, or it will 
ruin you. Soul and body die under its 
ravages. A drunkard is worse than a 
beast. Look at the drunkard's home — or 
rather, dwelling ; home is too sacred a 
word — and see how desolate and dreary 
and wretched it is. The Bible says, 
"Drunkards shall not inherit the king- 
dom of G-od ;" so that they are miserable 
here, and more miserable hereafter and 
for ever. 



FRIENDLY COUNSELS. 11 



HONESTY. 

Honesty is all -important. "Thou 
shalt not steal" is one of Grod's command- 
ments. When you were in slavery you 
may have thought that you had a right 
to take from your master what you could 
get hold of, and hesitated only from the 
fear of being found out. Even some 
slaves who call themselves pious, have 
thought it was not wrong to take from the 
master's crib whatever they could lay 
their hands upon. But if they had read 
the Bible, they would have seen how 
wrong it was. The apostle Paul, writ- 
ing to the bondmen in his day, says 
they must ''not purloin;" which means, 
they must not steal even a little thing 
from their masters, nor from anybody 
else. 



12 FRIENDLY COUNSELS. 

If then any of you have fallen into 
this wicked habit, stop it at once. Be- 
sides, if you steal, the law will seize upon 
you, and you may have to go to prison, 
or suffer some worse punishment. You 
are now under law, and must be an hon- 
est keeper of the law. 



LYING. 



Be truthful. Some have said that ly- 
ing is universally practised among ih.Q 
slaves — that they seem to think it is no 
sin, or if it be a sin, that it is, a very lit- 
tle one. If this be so, then we urge you 
to get your minds at once set right in 
this matter. Lying is a sin, and a great 
sin. God has said, "Thou shalt not bear 
false witness,'' and that forbids lying of 
all kinds. He says too, ''Lie not one to 
another.'' And still more, he says, ''Li- 



/f// 

FKIENDLY COUNSELS. 13 

ars shall have their part in the lake that 
burneth with fire and brimstone." He 
is a God of truth, and he commands us 
all to ''speak the truth in love." 



SWEARING. 



Perhaps you are not a profane swear- 
er. We hardly think swearing is as com- 
mon among the blacks as it is among the 
whites : to the shame of the whites be it 
said. Yet we have heard some shock- 
ing oaths from colored men and women. 
This wicked habit the Bible condemns. 
"Thou shalt not take the name of the 
Lord thy God in vain ; for the Lord will 
not hold him guiltless that taketh his 
name in vain." " Swear not at all," said 
Jesus. If any of you have fallen into 
this dreadful habit, break it off, stop it 
at once. And if you have not, then guard 
against it 



14 FRIENDLY COUNSELS. 



PURITY. 

Be chaste. I dare say you know what 
that means. Whatever bad examples 
you may have had, you should now and 
henceforth keep from that destructive 
vice which God has forbidden in the sev- 
enth commandment. It is, "Thou shalt 
not commit adultery." This means, to 
keep to your own wife, and the wife keep 
to her own husband. If you break over 
this bound, you break God's law. In 
slavery, this vice or wickedness has not 
been thought so very bad ; and perhaps, 
in some instances, it may even have been 
encouraged. But it was wicked then, and 
it is wicked now. Whatever apologies 
you may have made for it before, you 
are now out of the house of bondage, and 
under the same laws that all are. A 



FRIENDLY COUNSELS. 15 

woman's cliaracter, married or unmar- 
ried, is blasted if she is impure ; and in 
the sight of God an impure man is equal- 
ly sinful. 

All young people should guard, against 
this vice. They have a character to form 
and to maintain; and how can that be 
done if this vile habit is indulged ? A 
virtuous character is as precious to a col- 
ored woman as it is to any woman. And 
with regard to men and women both, the 
Bible says, ''Whoremongers and adul- 
terers God will judge. '^ 



THE SABBATH. 

Keep the Sabbath. Make it not a day 
of work nor of pleasure, b.ut of rest and 
of worship. The Bible says, "Kemem- 
ber the Sabbath-day to keep it holy.'' 
Cease on tha't day from all unnecessary 



16 FKIENDLY COUNSELS. 

work. Let your families have rest also. 
Put on your best clothes — parents and 
children both — and after you have pray- 
ed in your closet and prayed with your 
family, then go to church, taking with 
yon such of your family as are old enough. 
Do n't idle about on the Lord's day. If 
there is a Sabbath-school, go to it your- 
selves, and take your children along with 
you. If you follow these rules, you will 
grow wiser and better. It is in this way 
that people are trained up for heaven. 

These habits are, you see, all based 
on the Bible. It is God's morality we 
are recommending. And yet, after you 
have done all these things, you have done 
nothing more than your duty. You must 
not make a religion out of these good 
habits. That is, you must not think that 
these are all that religion requires. Ee- 
ligion demands these, and something 



ft 



J FEIENDLY COUNSELS. It 

more. You must have ''the broken 
heart," sorrow for sin — sorrow before 
God, because you have broken his laws 
Religion bids you turn from all sin — 
even sins of thought. It commands you 
to go to Jesus, that you may have your 
sins washed away in his precious blood. 
It tells you that you must put your whole 
trust in the Lord Jesus for salvation. 
Religion calls upon you to love Jesus, 
and from love to do whatsoever he hath 
commanded. 

This is the inward experience of relig- 
ion. But all the good habits we have 
been recommendiug are such as a relig- 
ious person will practise. If a man pre- 
tends to be religious, and is a bad man 
in his outward conduct — if he loves to 
speak against his neighbors, or tells lies 
about them, or steals, or swears, or is 
impure, he is not a religious man ; he is 
a hypocrite ; and "that man's religion,'^ 



18 FKIENDLY COUNSELS. 

the Bible says, '4s vain." We want 
you to be religious and moral both. 



LEARNING. 



A GREAT many good people are now 
engaged in teaching you to read and 
write. This is very important ; for then 
you can read the Bible and other good 
books, and see your way to heaven clear- 
er. Besides, some learning is very nec- 
essary and useful in business, in writing 
letters, and in many ways. While you 
were slaves, you were for the most part 
not permitted to learn to read and write ; 
but now you have the opportunity, and 
you must give your attention to it. 

It is a new thing to you, this learning 
to read and write, and it may come hard 
at first ; but if you keep on, it will soon 
become easier. And when you have once 



FRIENDLY COUNSELS. 19 

learned these, what a pleasant thing it 
will be to you to write a letter, or to sit 
down in your own house and read all 
about Jesus and salvation ! 

You must see that your children learn 
also. Perhaps they will take it quicker, 
and then they can read to you. How 
nice it will be, after your day's work or 
on the Sabbath, to listen to your chil- 
dren reading to you out of the precious 
Bible ! This will be one of the best 
blessings connected with your new-found 
freedom. 



A HOME. 



One of the first things you should en- 
deavor to secure to yourselves is, a home. 
Each family should aim at this. No mat- 
ter how small your house be, if it is a 
home, and your home, there will be a 
charm about it. I see not why every 



20 FEIENDLY COUNSELS. 

family among tlie freedmen may not ob- 
tain sucli a home — where he can have his 
family to himself, and train his children 
to good morals and religion. Freedom 
makes a home worth something. 

G-et a house, then, as soon as you can ; 
no matter how small or how poor it is. 
Perhaps by your industry you may make 
it larger and better. Move your family 
into it, and begin to live as one who is 
responsible to God, and who is deter- 
mined to show that slavery has not rob- 
bed him of all his manhood. 

In this home have family worship. 
Pray with your family every morning, 
asking God's blessing in something like 
the following words : 



FRIENDLY COUNSELS. 21 

MORNING PRAYER. 

• Our Father which art in heaven, we 
thank thee for keeping us safe through 
the night. We thank thee for our sleep, 
which has done us so much good. Grant 
now, Lord, that we may have thy 
blessing through the day. Help us to 
be diligent in business. Keep us from 
all harm and from all wrong. Help us 
to do thy will in all things. Lord, 
bless this family ; make us Christians ; 
give us sorrow for all our sins, and par- 
don them for Jesus' sake. May we trust 
in Jesus alone for salvation. Help us to 
obey all thy commands. May we love 
all men, even our enemies. May we 
serve thee faithfully until we die ; and 
then, Lord, take us to heaven, for Je- 
sus' sake. Amen. 

The evening prayer might be some- 
what as follows : 



22 FRIENDLY COUNSELS. 

EVENING PRAYER. 

Lord, we give thee thanks that thou* 
hast preserved us through the past day ; 
that thou hast helped us to do our work, 
and hast not suffered us to fall into any 
hurtful evil^. Yet, Lord, we know and 
feel that the day has not been without 
its temptations and sins. We have done 
many things which we ought not to have 
done, and have left undone many things 
which we ought to have done ; and for 
these sins, Lord, we ask thy forgive- 
ness. Oh, wash them all away in the 
blood of Jesus. Grive us hearts to love 
and obey thee more perfectly hereafter. 

Keep us, Lord, through the night, 
from all harm. Give us peaceful sleep. 
And when the night of death shall come, 
may we sleep in Jesus, and awake in 
heaven. This we ask through Jesus 
Christ, our blessed Redeemer. Amen. 



fS 

FRIENDLY COUNSELS. 23 

Learn also the Lord's prayer, and 
help your children to learn it. You 
should often say it as a morning prayer ; 
going down upon your knees with your 
little ones, and all repeating it aloud to- 
gether. 



THE LORD'S PRAYER. 

'' Our Father which art in heaven, 
hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom 
come. Thy will be done in earth, as it 
is in heaven. Give us this day our daily 
bread. And forgive us our debts, as we 
forgive our debtors. And lead us not 
into temptation, but deliver us from evil ; 
for thiiie is the kingdom, and the power, 
and the glory, for ever. Amen." 

As soon as you learn to read, let your 
prayers be accompanied by the reading 
daily of at least a few verses out of the 



24 FRIENDLY COUNSELS. 

Bible. Take great pains also to teach 
your children to pray. There are a 
great many pretty little prayers they 
can learn, and some of them are in verse. 
I will give two of these, though I dare 
say some of you know them already. 

PEAYEE FOE A LITTLE. CHILD ON 
GOING TO BED. 

" Now I lay me down to sleep, 
I pray the Lord my soul to keep; 
If I should die before I wake, 
I pray the Lord my soul to take; 
And this I beg for Jesus' sake. Amen." 

CHILD'S MOENING PEAYEE. 

"Now I awake, and see the light; 
'T is God who kept me through the night. 
To him I lift my voice, and pray 
That he would keep me through the day. 
If I should die before 't is done, 
O God, accept me through thy Son. Amen." 

Teach your children to fear God and 
to keep his commandments. Train them 



FEIENDLY COUNSELS. 25 

up for him. Eemember they are given 
to you to be brought up for some good 
and useful end. Let them have every 
advantage within your reach for their 
improvement. And above all, set them 
a good example yourselves, which will 
have more effect in making them good 
children than any lessons which you or 
others may give them. 



A HAPPY HOME. 

Try to make your house a happy 
home for yourselves and for your chil- 
dren. So far as you can, keep the chil- 
dren clean and neat. Especially take 
care that they do n't learn bad ways, by 
getting into the company of bad children. 

Make things as pleasant as you can in 
and around your house. What a differ- 
ence there is ! Some cottages or cabins 
look very pretty, and some look very 



26 FRIENDLY COUNSELS. 

bad. It is easy to tell wliat sort of peo- 
IDle live in a house, by tlie very looks of 
it. Dirty within and dirty without tells 
a bad story of the inmates. On the 
other hand, when we pass a log-cabin 
where things look tidy, we are apt to 
say to ourselves, "Some nice people live 
there." 

Now, when a stranger approaches your 
house, let him notice a pretty garden- 
spot, with flowers and vegetables, all 
well kept. When he enters, let his eye 
be cheered by seeing how nice every 
thing looks, how well swept the floor is, • 
how the tin things shine. Let him no- 
tice a few books, with marks of study or 
reading upon them. Especially let him 
see the Bible or Testament in daily use. 
As he glances around, it would be pleas- 
ant if he could see a little picture here 
and there hanging on the wall, or a flow- 
er-pot with a pretty pink or rose bloom- 



FKIENDLY COUNSELS. 27 

ing ill it, showing that you have a liking 
for such things. He would say, "Well, 
this looks like freedom. I think you 
must be quite a happy family." 

Will any one say that such a picture 
of home comforts may not be seen among 
the families of the freedmen? I trust 
that many who read this little book, or 
hear it read, will say to themselves, 
"Well, I mean to try and see if I can't 
have such a home.'' Try, then, and we 
believe you will succeed. It will be a 
very pretty picture to show some who 
maintain that it is useless to attempt to 
elevate or to improve the condition of 
the colored race. 

These counsels are from your friends. 
We rejoice in your freedom, and we long 
to see you improve it to the utmost, thus 
showing to the world the superiority of 
a state of freedom under the worst as- 
pects over that of slavery under the hest 



28 FEIENDLY COUNSELS. 



TO SUM UP. 

And now try to think over all the 
things mentioned in this little book, and 
bear them in mind, so that every day 
they will keep you right. For instance, 
say to yourself, I will be industrious. 
I wont lie around a mere idler. And 
when I have work to do, I will be faith- 
ful and do it. I wont be an eye-servant, 
working only when my employer is look- 
ing at me. 

Next, I will be clean. I will keep 
my body clean, and my house clean, and 
my children clean ; and this will remind 
me that I must be clean in my thoughts. 

Then I will remember to save my 
wages, and not spend more than is nec- 
essary, and to lay up something for a time 
of need. 

As to rum and other intoxicating 



FKIENDLY COUNSELS. 29 

liquors, I wont touch them, any more than 
f I wouki handle a fiery serpent. 

I will not steal even a small amount. 
If the devil says. Take it, I will say, No ; 
it is n't mine ; Grod has forbidden me to 
take it. 

I will guard my lips from lying. I 
will always speak the truth. Even if it 
is against myself, I will still keep to the 
truth ; for I know God abhors the de- 
ceitful tongue. 

When I hear people taking God's 
name in vain, I will say. That is very 
wicked. Lord, help me to keep from 
this dreadful sin. 

And so also, when I am tempted to 
impurity, I will say as Joseph in the 
Bible said, "How can I do this great 
wickedness, and sin against God ?" I 
will keep from such vice. 

I will remember the Sabbath too, and 
try to keep it holy. I will go to church 



30 FRIENDLY COUNSELS. 

and prayer- meeting. I wont do any 
unnecessary work on that holy day. 

Try to keep all these good resolutions, 
and ask God to lieljp you. You need 
Grod's help ; and he will give it to you, 
if you pray for it. 

And now learn and say the following 
beautiful hvmns, with which I will 
close : 



FEIENDLY COUNSELS. 31 

JUST AS I AM. 

Just as I am — without one plea, 
But that thy blood was shed for me, 
And that thou bidst me come to thee, 
O Lamb of God, I come ! 

Just as I am — and waitmg not 
To rid my soul of one dark blot, 
To thee, whose blood can cleanse each spot, 
O Lamb of God, I come ! 

Just as I am — though tossed about 
"With many a conjflict, many a doubt — 
Fightings within, and fears without, 
O Lamb of God, I come ! 

Just as I am — ^poor, wretched, blind — 
Sight, riches, healing of the mind. 
Yea, all I need, in thee to find, 

O Lamb of God, I come ! 

Just as I am — thou wilt receive. 

Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve ; 

Because thy promise I believe, 

O Lamb of God, I come ! 

Just as I am — thy love, I own, 
Has broken every barrier down ; 
Now to be thine, yea, thine alone, 

O Lamb of God, I come ! 



/ 



32 FEIENDLY COUNSELS. 



HYMN. 

" A charge to keei^ I have; 
A God to glorify; 
A never-dying soul to save, 
And fit it for the sky. 

To serve the present age, 

My calling to fulfil: 
Oh, may it all my powers engage, 

To do my Master's will. 

Arm me with jealous care, 

As in thy sight to live ; 
And Oh, thy servant. Lord, prepare 

A strict account to give. 

Help me to watch and pray,- 

And on thyself rely; 
Assured if I my trust betray, 

I shall for ever die." 



C85 82 



,r 






^ 



'7> 



y • o 



*^ 



v 






'^^^- . 



o • » 



v\ 



'\ 






'^ 



.?., 
















•n^ 


0^ 






<>5 


^^. 


%o 





o » i 



--^ 



lO 






.^' 









»/^. 



y. 



I ' a 












<y ^ " o * 












t> tl 






O • 1 



.0 



>^ 



■yi%^ 



-.J 



t « * 






'>t 



b V^ 



I 



^>0^ 



,*^-^% 



4 p. 



» . 






.0 v- 



^v 



> V 



M o 



.f <■ 






■ a'' 



^. ■ 



4 



'^' '<iv 



O " 



•V 



v^ 



v^ 






tl>> 















.o-^ 




NOV 81 

N. MANCHESTER, 
INDIANA 46962 



N> 



